


Are you...sexting?

by ThatFanwriter



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Cas is taking care of Claire, Charlie Ships Castiel/Dean Winchester, Charlie made Cas get a dating app, Dean is on it, First Date, M/M, Minor Jessica Moore/Sam Winchester, Protective Sam Winchester, gets interrupted by Claire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-30
Updated: 2015-12-15
Packaged: 2018-04-07 01:12:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4243872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatFanwriter/pseuds/ThatFanwriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After her parents die Clair is given to the custody of her father’s twin brother, Castiel.<br/>--<br/>6:07 am Impala67: Hiya sexy ;)<br/>6:13 am Impala67: Hello? Anybody there? Come on it says you're online, you there?<br/>6:18 am Castiel: Hi.<br/>6:18 am Impala67: Hi :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Okay well you're not my dad!” Claire yelled as she stormed out of the kitchen.

“No I’m not your dad,” Cas yelled following her out into the living room, “but you are my family and I am responsible for you and I care about what happens to you! And yes I miss him, I wish he was here too okay! But he’s not. He’s in heaven with your mom,” Cas ignored Claire’s eyeroll and forged on, “he would agree with me and you know it. Those boys are bad news Claire. They tried to get you to _ROB_ a convenience store! You are lucky Dean and I were there to stop you, otherwise… who knows. Either way, you are never to see them again! Do you understand?”

“Aaargh!” Was the response he got from Claire as she stormed up the stairs to her bedroom. Thankfully she didn’t slam the door this time, that was an improvement… right?

He let his knees give and he dropped on to the sofa. Jimmy’s death had been hard on both of them, after Cas learned about the car accident that killed Jimmy and his wife all he wanted to do was curl up on his bed and cry his eyes out for all eternity. Jimmy wasn’t just his twin, he was his best friend, the other half that made him whole, and yes that sounded cheesy but it was true. They did everything together, he was the first one Cas confided his sexuality in and always made sure Cas felt safe and accepted. Throughout high school their relationship remained strong despite the fact that they began shifting in social circles, Jimmy gravitating towards sports and Cas towards academic clubs. College was hardest for Cas, going to different states and all, but even then they remained close, calling each other often and setting up weekend visits. When Cas got the call informing him of his brothers death, he didn’t even hear the end of the conversation, he let the phone drop from his ears, his knees soon following.

A part of him had died, the only one that would ever know him better than he knew himself, the only family he had left. Then he got a call from child services. No, Jimmy was not the only family he had left, he had Claire. _He_ was the only family that Claire had left. The lady on the answering machine informing Cas that if he did not claim responsibility for Claire then she would be put in a group home is what finally restarted Cas. There he was eight months later, living in his brother’s house, ~~taking~~  failing to take care of his kid.

His phone vibrated in his pocket and he wearily took it out. It was a notification from that damn dating app Charlie had made him download, _new message: Impala67_. Great, Dean was probably going to go off at him for the worst date ever, probably yell at him to get off the damn dating site. He clicked the bubble and opened the messages, it opened on their messages from before, he scrolled all the way up and slowly read through them, wanting to savor the feeling of feeling liked before it was plucked from him.

**_8 weeks ago:_ **

_6:07 am Impala67: Hiya sexy ;)_

_6:13 am Impala67: Hello? Anybody there? Come on it says you're online, you there?_

_6:18 am Castiel: Hi._

_6:18 am Impala67: Hi :)_

_6:30 am Impala67: Wow you are quite the conversation starter._

_6:40 am Castiel: Sorry I was doing something._

_6:40 am Impala67: Oh, well you should close the page when you aren’t on… so people don’t think you are :)_

_6:50 am Castiel: Okay._

**_7 weeks ago:_ **

_8:15 am Impala67: Hi again. It says you are on. Are you really?_

_8:18 am Castiel: Yes Impala67 I am._

_8:18 am Impala67:  :) I’m Dean by the way (so you don’t have to write Impala67)_

_8:22 am Castiel: Hello Dean._

_8:23am Impala67: Hi Cas._

**_6 weeks ago:_ **

_9:00am  Impala67: Hey Cas._

_9:02 am Castiel: Hi Dean._

_9:02 am Impala67: Hey your response time is getting better :)_

_9:08 am Impala67: Okay...nevermind._

_9:10 am Castiel: Sorry_

_9:10 am Impala67: Haha, it’s cool. I guess it wasn't really a conversation starter._

_10:27 am Castiel: I guess I'm not that great at keeping conversations going._

_10:27 am Impala67: Well hey that was a pretty good start :)_

_10:29 am Castiel:  :)_

_10:29 am Impala67:  :)_

_10:30 am Impala67:  So tell me about yourself  Cas._

_10:30 am Castiel: Charlie said I shouldn't give away personal information..._

_10:35 am Impala67: Who's Charlie? And I'm not asking for your social security number or anything, just...what do you like to do with your free time?_

_11:03 am Castiel: Charlie is one of my best friends. She made me get this app :/_

_11:05 am Castiel: um Charlie said you were trying to sext, with the whole free time thing. Maybe you have the wrong guy..._

_11:05 am Impala67: Aww Cas, gushing about me to your friends? ;) And no, I was genuinely trying to get to know you better. Though I'm totally up for sexting ; )_

_3:47 pm Impala67: but talking is good too :D_

_3:48 pm Castiel:  :)_

_3: 55 pm Castiel: So why Impala67 Dean?_

_4:00 pm Impala67: it's my baby_

_4:02 pm Castiel: Your profile says you've never been married. I didn't know you had kids, that's cool what are their names?_

_4:03 pm Impala67: Literally fell off my chair laughing. My brother is giving me one of his bitch faces. No not an actual kid. A car._

_4:04 pm Castiel: Oh... sorry I'm not very car savy._

_4:04 pm Impala67: No, it was very cute. I'd be happy to teach you :)_

_4:08 pm Castiel: Is that more sexting?_

_4:08 pm Impala67: If you want it to be ;)_

_4:23 pm Castiel: So you have a brother that's cool, do you guys get along?_

_4:23 pm Impala67: Yeah, he's my baby brother, though he's a moose in size. I'd give anything for him, and him for me... I know him better than I know myself sometimes. He's my best friend, though don't tell him I said that._

_4:25 pm Impala67: How about you? Any siblings?_

**_6 weeks ago:_ **

_1:12 pm Castiel: Hello Dean._

_1: 18 pm Impala67: Hey Cas :)_

_1:35 pm Castiel: I wanted to apologize for not answering you the other day. I did have a brother, a twin. His name was, well is, Jimmy and he was also my best friend and like you and your brother we would have done anything for eachother. I guess your text just reminded me of our relationship. He died a few months ago. I've been struggling to cope since..._

Castiel scrolled down past the messages remembering how Dean had been someone Cas could go to to mourn his brother. Charlie only wanted to remember the good things and felt like Jimmy wouldn't want them to be sad and cry. But Cas needed to, he needed to feel the pain and let it out, he knew that if he kept it bottled up he would explode sooner or later.

Dean was great to Cas, understanding what losing Sammy would do to him. He listened, or rather read, all the stories Cas sent him of him and Jimmy and shared his own stories of his life. He tried comforting the man anyway he could, sometimes sending random quotes that he thought Cas might like or silly emojis. Cas quickly returned the favors, after Dean explained to him how to access the emojis on his phone Cas became addicted to them. Sometimes he would work up the courage to hit send and Dean would receive a message in the middle of the night of an emoji of a dog or something.

Cas stopped scrolling when his eyes caught wind of a familiar question Cas always asked himself, why did Dean chose him to talk to? He began reading mid-conversation.

**_3 weeks ago:_ **

_3:45 pm Castiel: But Dean on your profile it says you're “just rolling through” right Dean? “No strings attached” I’m not a very “no strings attached” person Dean._

_3:45 pm Impala67: Yeah, I got that from your profile Cas, “looking to form a profound bond with a lifelong partner” Really? I mean who writes that :)_

_3:48 pm Castiel: I do Dean. Dean if you think that is silly then why did you start talking to me?_

_3:55 pm Impala67: Jeez I should have never told you my name, you're totally abusing it._

_5:00 pm Impala67: Cas? Hello? You know me, I’m just teasing you buddy :) You don’t have to stop replying._

_5:15 pm Castiel: No it was Claire. She just got home._

_5:15 pm Impala67: Today is Wednesday, doesn't she have early release today? Get out at 12pm?_

_5:16 pm Castiel: Yes_

_5:16 pm Impala67: I told you you shouldn't let her walk home. Did she say where she was?_

_5:17 pm Castiel: She refuses to get in the car with me when I go get her  she argues that Jimmy use to let her walk home._

_5:17 pm Castiel: She says she was with "friends"_

_5:18 pm Impala67: Well I mean she's a teenager I guess it's normal behavior for her age. I wouldn't be too worried Cas_

_5:20 pm Castiel:_

_5:20 pm Impala67: Did I ever tell you about that time I drank my first beer?_

_5:20 pm Castiel: Yes, and if you are trying to make me feel better you are doing the opposite._

_5:22pm Impala67: My point is that I wanted to, I don't know, rebel. Live a little and just do whatever. Seeing my dad get the way he got though. I don't know... to me it showed me how much he cared for me. I know you don't want to go to hard on Claire but maybe right now that's what she needs_

Cas continued scrolling down and stopped when he found last weeks.

**_1 week ago_ **

_3:25 am Castiel: Dean!  Dean you changed your profile. Does this mean you talked to your brother?_

_3:25 am Impala67: It’s 3 am why are you up so early?_

_3:25 am Castiel: I couldn’t sleep. So your profile has changed from intrested in women to interested in Men and Women and you are no longer just rolling through but instead looking for a profound bond_

_3:26 am Impala67: Were you up going through my profile again? Cas we talked about this, I can just send you more pictures of me if you want, I’m sure you have the ones on the site memorized._

_3:26 am Castiel: So you talked to your Sam then?_

_3:26 am Castiel: What did he say?_

_3:26 am Castiel: What did you say?_

_3:26 am Castiel:_

_3:26 am Impala67: Jeez Cas give me a second to write okay_

_3:38 am Impala67: Yes. I talked to Sammy. He was very cool with it all, annoyingly mother henning, but it was good. I told him that I’ve liked guys for a while and that I was finally ready to admit it to those close to me. I told him that I met a guy I was crazy for on this dating app and that I didn’t care if that sounded crazy but it was true… because it is true Cas. I really really like you and I think its time we met, don’t you? I mean this has sort of been one of the longest relationships I’ve ever been in and we’ve never even heard the other’s voice. We don’t live that far from each other right? So I say we meet up for a date next week or something? What do you say? Will you, Castiel, do me the honor of accompanying me on a date?_

_3:40 am Impala67: Cas buddy? Did you fall asleep on me man?_

_3:40 am Castiel: No_

_3:40 am Castiel: I mean no I didn’t fall asleep, yes I would love to go out with you  _

_3:41 am Impala67: I’m not going to lie for those few seconds that I thought you said no to the date I thought I could hear my heart starting to break… Don’t tell anybody I said that though_

Cas continued scrolling down to the newest message, bracing himself for heart break.

**_Today_ **

_8:19 pm Impala67: Haha well that was an… interesting first date right? Hopefully our second one won’t be so...gun filled. How’s Claire by the way? How are you?_

Castiel couldn’t believe his eyes. He blinked away the tears that had begun to form while he read the previous messages and read this one again. Dean didn’t hate him? He was hoping for their second date to go better? Dean wanted a second date? Cas didn’t understand how Dean hadn’t been scared away. He wanted to know how Claire was. He wanted to know how he was.

**_Today_ **

_9:45 pm Castiel: Claire is...well I think she hates me but is mad at herself too. I can hear her walking around in her room. I think she is more mad at the world than anything. I’m fine. How are you? I’m sorry to have put you in such a stressful situation. You don’t... hate me?_

_9:46 pm Impala67: Cas I could NEVER hate you. And it’s okay I’ve had worse dates. I’m just happy we were able to spot her from the restaurant window._

_9:46 pm Castiel: Me too_

_9:47 pm Impala67: Hey I have to go, but please remember two things. One, I do NOT hate you, quite the opposite actually, and two what’s going on with Claire isn’t your fault. Okay? Talk to you tomorrow._

Cas put down his phone, Dean was wrong. What happened with Claire was his fault, he should have known something was up with her, he shoul- wait “quite the opposite actually”?! Did...did Dean just tell him he loved him? Cas sunk deeper into the sofa lost in thought.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Yeah Dean I know the backstory. I helped you make the reservations remember?” Sam cut in, finally feeling his had hair dried enough and threw the towel over the desk chair.
> 
> “Yeah well, apparently his niece-”
> 
> “Claire” Sam nodded.
> 
> “Will you let me tell the story?”

Dean threw his phone on the bed muttering hopelessly to himself, “quite the opposite actually? Come on man what the hell is wrong with you!”

Sam came in and plopped himself on the bed, toweling off his wet hair.

“Did you just get out of the shower! You’ve been in there since I got home hours ago man. Listen Sammy I love that you are staying with me I really do, stay as long as you want, but come on leave some hot water for me yea?”

“So I take it the date didn’t go well? Was he not what you expected? I bet the pictures were really old and he was some fat old balding guy-” Sam began after a moment of silence only to be cut off by a pillow thrown at him by his ever so loving brother Dean.

“No he was- he was everything I thought he’d be, damn near perfect man, probably an angel in disguise-”

“But you fucked it up?” Sam asked. Cue another pillow.

“No. Well maybe just now… uh but the date did not go as planned. We met up at this restaurant that’s kind of a half way mark between where we both li-”

“Yeah Dean I know the backstory. I helped you make the reservations remember?” Sam cut in, finally feeling his hair had dried enough and threw the towel over the desk chair.

“Yeah well, apparently his niece-”

“Claire” Sam nodded.

“Will you let me tell the story?”

Sam put up his hands in surrender and motioned for Dean to continue. He tried holding back the smile that wanted to form on his lips, seeing as this was probably supposed to be a sad story and he should not be smiling. He just loved this moment they were having, something Dean usually shied from, too chick-flick for him. Sam lived for the moments were Dean, the man Sam grew up looking up to and wanting to be, could go to him and talk about his feelings and trust him with his secrets. The day Dean finally told him he was bi was one of Sam’s best days ever, right up there with getting into Stanford, realizing Jess loved him back, and graduating Law School. Of course Sam had known Dean was bisexual for awhile, but he wanted his brother to be able to tell him, to hear Dean be able to start admitting it to the world. The fact that he told him that not only was he bi but that he had also found a man he was falling head over heels for made Sam want to cry and hug his brother and thank him for confiding in him and applaud his courage and tell him to follow his heart and go after that man, of course Sam contained himself to a more appropriate behavior because this was Dean he was dealing with. Still, since then, a proud toothy grin placed itself on Sam’s heart he-

“Sam dude are you even listening. Come on you are the worst brother ever, this is important to me Sammy. If you’re just going to be thinking about Jess the whole time-” Dean’s words slapped off the smile that had inevitably formed on Sam’s face.

“I am listening!” He quickly defended himself, playing over everything Dean had said in his head.

“Oh really? Then what did I just say?”

“That you guys went into the restaurant you exchanged very awkward hello’s, you went in for a hug, him a handshake. You both just ended up standing around like fools till finally one of you sat down. You guys re-introduced yourselves there was a lot of laughing because neither of you could believe that the other was right there in front of them. You had just finished ordering your appetizers when you looked out the window and recognized Claire, from a photo Cas had sent you, ducking into a convenience store. You mentioned it to Cas saying it was weird that she was so far out from home so late and that didn’t she have her English Midterm on Monday. Cas said YES. You both left the restaurant before the appetizers even arrived and went into the convenience store. Cas grabbed her hand as he spotted her and saw that she had a gun in her pocket. He pulled her outside and lectured her. They argued and then they drove back home.” Sam finished pulling smug bitch face number 12.

“Okay,” Dean replied slowly, “then why were you smiling. From that story where did you get a wow this makes me so happy my face needs to show it moment?”

“It’s uh- well it’s all of this. Us sitting here. You telling me how your date went, details and everything. I like it.” Sam shrugged slightly.

“Ughhh you're such a girl” Dean eye-rolled and shoved at Sam. Quietly though, he liked it too. He was use to not complaining, keeping his mouth shut, not bothering others with his stupid problems. Sammy though, he loved hearing about Dean’s stupid problems, or at least it seemed that way. Dean felt that he could go to the guy at anytime and tell him anything, and he wouldn’t be a bother.

“Okay so you said you may have fucked it up just now…” Sam said giving him a pleading look with eyes. He wanted to know more, hear the rest of Dean’s stupid problems. Dean let himself smile momentarily, quietly wondering what he ever did to deserve such an amazing brother. He cleared his throat and explained the last message he sent to Cas.

“So…?” Sam asked confusion clouding his eyes.

“So? So I basically told him I liked him!” Dean’s eyes were frantic darting back and forth between Sam’s left and right eye.

“Well... I mean hasn’t that all been implied? You asking him out on a date and all?” Sam asked not finding what the problem was.

“...The opposite of hate is LO-VE. I told him I loved him!” Dean said panic not leaving his voice, despite his efforts to keep it low and calm.

“Do you?" Sam said after eyeing him for a while, "I mean I know you only met him once. But you’ve known him for what two months and you guys are always texting. I mean come on how much stuff can you talk about? Even Jess and I don’t talk that much on the phone.”

Dean evened his breathing and slumped back on his bed. His face looked pensive, but also something Sam had only seen a few times before, vulnerable.

“I- I think that I might be.” Dean finally looked up, voice soft and so full of hope that Sam simultaneously wanted to get up and do a little dance but also get up and vow to kill anyone and everyone who dare take away that hope and happiness Dean was carrying.

“But I didn’t want to tell him through text. I mean come on how bad is that!” Dean soon added, voice threatening to become frantic again.

“Well hey,” Sam said bobbing his head down to catch Dean’s eyes, “technically you didn’t. The word love was never explicitly stated. You can tell him on your next date.” He said, a reassuring smile plastered on his face.

“Yeah.” Dean smiled for a second. Then his eyes flickered up and with a sharp release of breath that God knows how long Dean had been holding onto, the moment was over, “alright let me breath will ya, go back to your room gigantor.”

“Yes squirrel.” Sam teased as he got up off the bed and headed for the door. As he was leaving he could hear the faint voice of Dean as he let out a “Thanks for listening Sammy.” Sam paused for a moment and gave a slight nod of his head, acknowledging Dean’s comment, then headed back to ~~the guest~~ his room. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing termites infested his home. He was living with Dean again, sure made it easier coping with the fact that he wouldn’t see Jess for another two weeks since she was off in Japan for business, he was with his brother, bonding.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone :) I hope you are liking the story so far  
> Thanks for reading!

Cas grabbed his phone and left. Claire had been ignoring him since last night and he was tired of feeling like he was the one who had done something wrong. He stopped at his next door neighbors house, Sheriff Jody Mills and asked if she could keep an eye on the house while he went for a run, she-the saint that she was- said it would be no problem. 

Cas was about two miles out when his phone buzzed, temporarily interrupting the song he was listening to, an AC/DC one. He had gotten a bit obsessed since Dean suggested he listen to them.Speaking of which, it was he that texted him. Cas slowed his run to a jog, confused.

They had traded numbers the night before, their first date, but afterwards they had still used the app to talk, why now? Then Cas remembered, they had still kept talking through the app-- that is until this morning when his sleep deprived self decided it would be a great idea to make a very exasperated phone call to Dean at 3 am thanking him for being so understanding with the whole Claire situation and not hating him. 

Cas quickly opened the message, now simple walking, eyes more focused on the phone than the path.

 

**Dean**

_Saturday_

_7:56 AM:  Hey just woke up. I wasn't expecting your call,_

_Sorry I missed it. :( It was nice though, ur voice-_

_mail... hearing y_ _our voice first thing in the morning._

_Any luck_ _with Claire?_

 

Cas's cheeks flushed pink, great Dean had heard his desperate voicemail. The good thing was that he hadn't seemed to be put off by it, instead he found it... _nice_? Oh god was that more sexting? You'd think that after two months of talking with this particular guy Cas would have gotten the hang of this whole thing by now, but nope still as clueless as ever, and still totally flushed when he thought Dean was trying to do it with him. He really should ask Charlie for tips or do some internet searches or something! Cas decided that until then he would just ignore that part, instead he began to type out the answer to his last question. 

  **Dean**

_Saturday_

_7:59 AM: I cornered her in the kitchen earlier and said_

_Claire_ _we need to talk about what you did_

_8:00 AM: She just gave me the death stare and walked_

_off towards her room_

_8:00 AM: She is the one who almost robbed that conven-_

_ience store. So why am I the one who feels like I'm_

_being punished?_

_8:00 AM: SHE HAD A GUN DEAN! A GUN!_

 

_8:01 AM:_

 

8:01 AM: DEAN?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

_8:01 AM: That's me right now looking worriedly into my phone_

_not knowing what to say or do..._

_8:02 AM: Dean How Did You? TEACH ME!!!!!!!_

_8:02 AM: How did you do the moving picture Dean?_

_8:02 AM: This is like that movie Charlie likes, the pictures move._

_8:02 AM: I cant remember the name_

__8:02 AM : Harry Pooter_ _

_8:02 AM: The boy was a wizard and he had a scar! Are u a wizard Dean?_

_8:02 AM: Harry *Potter and haha no Cas, not a wizard._

_They are called gifs. New feature added to the_

_phones, they r like short videos on replay._

_8:03 AM:_

_8:03 AM: Did it work? Did I send a gif?_

_8:03 AM: No Cas that was just a picture. A very cute one if I_

_may add... and you are totally rocking that shirt!_

_8:04 AM: Dean...are you sexting again? You know_

_I'm not good with that._

_8:04 AM: No Cas, well maybe. But mainly just pointing out a_

_fact. Also are you running right now?_

_8:04 AM: Well I was, it helps me think, now I'm just walking_

_8:04 AM: I'll teach you the gif thing on our second date ;)_

_8:05 AM: Promise?_

_8:05 AM:_

_Definitely :)_

Cas stopped walking, god that gif thing was going to kill him. Okay so then Dean was planning for a second date, despite the crazy he encountered. Cas remembered something Charlie had texted him and quickly went back to her message then carefully, his tongue sticking out of it's own accord, typed it out, added an emoticon and quickly sent it to Dean before he could change his mind.

Dean anxiously sat in his bed, while he waited for Cas to reply. That voicemail had completely wrecked him that morning. Hearing Cas's voice all heavy and raspy and sleepy - he was not prepared for that, physically or mentally. He knew he was going to treasure that 45 second voicmail for the rest of his life. He looked down at his phone to see the new message from Cas.

**The guy that will kill you with his sexiness and adorkabilness**

_Saturday_

_8:07 AM:_ (\  /)                                   

( ^ . ^ )                                 

  ( " ) ( " )  

_~(*^_^*)~_

__

Dean fell back on his bed, then turned around to squeeze the life out of his pillow. He gave himself a moment to bask in the glory that was Cas. Then sat back up and and sent him another gif, trying his hardest to look sexy and alluring, not flushed and hopelessly in love like he actually was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first gif:  
> http://25.media.tumblr.com/af46bcc542446d81199e9190bb8d3946/tumblr_muetxx8mWX1rmdsejo1_400.gif
> 
> The first picture:  
> https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/40/2c/f0/402cf04a1e9cad373637648d95b097c0.jpg
> 
> The second gif:  
> http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lsb28u3YHu1qkrakco1_500.gif


	4. Chapter 4

Cas reluctantly stepped out of the shower, not wanting to give up the bliss and quiet the water gave him. Sometimes he would stand underneath the water for what felt like hours, and in those moments everything was okay. Jimmy and Amelia were alive and taking damn good care of Claire who was living a happy normal life and the only worries Cas held were what he was going to get Dean for their anniversary, and whose turn in was to take Claire to the movies. The water numbed out the reality, the messed up life he was living. Claire and the word gun didn’t mix, neither did the word orphaned. But the fantasies had to end at some point and Cas reminded himself that in his world Claire really did have a gun in her hand and no parents to call her own anymore. So he stepped out of the shower. He had given Claire a few hours to calm down since this morning, he hoped that by now he could go into her room and talk about what happened. Talk, not yell like they had the night before. _In front of Dean_ , Cas reminded himself with a grimace.

He stopped by Claire’s room on his way back to his brother’s guest room which had now turned into his room. He could see her shadow cast below the door. Okay good she was still here then, hadn’t run away.

Half an hour later he was carefully padding up the stairs carrying a big tray. He hadn’t seen her go down to get lunch yet so he decided to bring it up to her. He delicately knocked on her door with his elbow.

“Claire can I come in?” A few seconds later, “ I have food.” Some seconds after that, “Claire please open this door.”

Finally she did, leaving the door wide open and turning around heading back to her desk, leaving Cas stood underneath the door frame awkwardly holding up the tray of food and an even more awkward smile.

“What are you doing?” He finally asked coming in and setting the tray on her made bed, sitting down next to it.

“Studying for my English midterm. It’s on Monday, it shouldn’t be too hard though, I already know most of this stuff…” Claire replied head not moving from her open piles of books.

Cas had to use all his strength to not go off on her. There she was STUDYING! She was not the type of girl who should be any where near a gun. Yes she had been through some horrible things but that did not give her the right to do a whole 180 on her life. He took in some breaths, they were going to talk. Not yell.

“Huh.” He opted for instead.

Claire turned around in her chair to face him, her whole face one big eye roll. “What?” She asked.

“No it’s just- I mean you were going to rob a convenience store, I just figured you were done caring about,” he gestured towards her desk, trying his hardest to keep his voice light.

She turned back around to face her desk, after a while she whispered “I promised my parents I wouldn’t get senioritis … that I would finish the school year the way I started, or at least try to, with A’s.”

Cas took that in, he wanted to yell something like- well he wasn’t exactly sure what, all he knew was that he was angry and distraught and in a position he had never been in before. Jimmy probably would have known what to do.

“You don’t think that your parents would have liked to see you also finish your school year, or life for that matter, without a police record? Or any delinquencies, caught or not?” He was looking at her with pleading blue eyes as she turned around in her chair again to face him. Her face more unreadable than he would have liked.

“Claire just… just help me understand here okay? You are one of the smartest people I know, period. And not just book smart. What could pos-” he stopped himself and took a deep breath, “you were going to rob that convenience store,” he said again for the ten thousandth time, voice still as incredulous as the first time.

“So?” She answered quietly, daring herself to look up from the floor and into his eyes, which were now squinted together.

“So? So it’s- uh- it’s wrong!” His eyes opening wide, trying to emphasize the gravity of the situation.

“It’s wrong?” Claire spat back, voice breaking despite herself. And that’s when Cas saw it, the tears she was holding back, the lump of emotions tightly held off in her throat. “You wanna talk about wrong? My parents are dead. I’m an orphaned kid who lost her parents, whom she adored by the way, because of some stupid drunk teenage douche-bag who thought it would be a good idea to drive home from some skeezy high school party. That wrong enough for you?” Claire shouted, tears strolling down her cheeks.

"What happened to you was horrible and wrong and not fair! I get that and if I could take Jimmy’s place then I would in a heartbeat. I miss him too-" Cas shouted back, his eyes moistening.

"Ha, do you?" Claire cut him off, sending a shock wave that completely derailed him. "I mean not once, not once have I seen you cry! And what the hell was that yesterday? Dean? You're dating? Your brother _just died_! How insensitive and selfish can you be? Your TWIN! Who by the way you look so much like that sometimes in the mornings, when I haven't fully woken up, and I see you-" her voice broke again, and after a sob she continued, "you look just like the my dad, and- and- and I miss them. I miss them yelling at me to finish all my vegetables, or not letting me go out until I've finished all my homework. My mom and dad sitting around the kitchen table listening to how my day went. My mom, not knowing when to stop talking or knowing how to be concise and the long winded speeches she would always get into on a drive somewhere. My dad playing basketball with me and teaching me how to throw punches because 'daddy's little girl needs to learn how to defend herself'" She took a quick pause catching her breath, "they were suppose to be there for graduation. Take me dress shopping for prom. Interrogate my date and scare the hell out of him. Help me choose a college. Embarrass me in front of my co-workers and friends and my crush. Give me advice that I would ignore and later regret. I wanted my dad to walk me down the aisle! Not his look alike." And okay that came out a lot meaner than she had intended but with tears furiously streaming down her face and barely being able to breath, she had lost her ability to filter herself and think about what she was saying.

Cas just stared at her with sad eyes, tears beginning to roll down his face as well.

"I-I can't even begin to know what you are going through. No child should have to lose a parent so young- let alone both. I do miss him though! He was my- he was my best friend" Cas cried, now it was his turn for his voice to crack. "Jimmy’s, and Amelia's, death broke me! I still cry, but I thought- I thought that I couldn'-shouldn't in front of you. Your world was breaking more than mine, _I had to be strong for you_! Behind closed doors though?" He swallowed hard remembering all the nights he had quietly cried himself to sleep, he opened his mouth to speak again but only hitched breaths came out.

They both just stared at each other, tears streaming from their faces, until finally Cas got up and opened his arms. Claire immediately ran into them, her crying face burrowing into his arms, his into her hair. They slummed down together on the floor, still hugging and still crying.

“I’m sorry I’m not Jimmy. I’m sorry you're stuck with me. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, it isn't fair...” Cas whispered into her ear, Claire sobbing harder.

After a few hours Claire let go and said she should probably get back to studying. Cas offered to go heat up the food for her again and she graciously accepted. Cas left the room feeling like a weight had been lifted off his chest. Yes they had shouted, and no they hadn’t actually talked about the incident with the gun and the guys that gave it to Claire, but they did share their emotions, they shared and they cried and they hugged. That was a good start right?

An hour after that Cas plopped on his bed, replaying the conversation he had had with Claire. He tentatively pulled out his phone. This would normally be the time when he texted Dean with his emotions, he wanted more than that though, he wanted to hear Dean’s voice. He wanted to talk out loud, not type. He considered that for a moment, spinning his phone in his hand.

“Claire and I- talked about Jimmy and Amelia.” He tested saying out loud, his voice broke and sounded hoarse. Dean would know he had been crying. He thought about that and whether or not he wanted to let Dean hear him like that. He began dialing Dean’s number when he determined that Dean technically already had through text, and their first date, and he needed to hear Dean’s voice.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone sorry for the long wait, had some family stuff going on. Anyways here's the next chapter! Hope you like it :D  
> -xx ThatFanwriter

Dean popped his head from the hood at the sound of angels singing-Cas was calling. He wiped his hands on the cloth hanging from his jean pocket and strolled away from his baby and to his phone. Taking a deep breath he reached for his phone to answer. He could barely form a complete thought when he had heard Cas’s voice mail that morning, he hoped this time he could pull himself together to actually keep a conversation.

“Hey Cas.” _Good, that sounded pretty casual but also -I’m glad your calling_. He smiled to himself proud of his togetherness. He could do this, he told himself confidently. What he was not expecting was to hear a deep breath on the other line, like Cas was finally allowing himself to breath for the first time in hours.

“Cas?” Dean said more urgently, eyes growing wider.

“Hi Dean.” Deep breath again, “um…” Deep breath. “So I talked to Claire.” Cas’s voice sounded so broken that Dean wanted to jump in his baby and make the two hour drive to Cas’s house and give a _stern talking to_ to Claire for making Cas sound like that. He looked back over at his baby, the hood was popped, _Oh right, tune up. Dammit I can’t drive her out._

“It was uh- we talked about Jimmy.” Cas croaked, snapping back Dean’s attention. On his bed Cas fiddled with his blanket, he could feel all the emotions bubbling back up. “It was a good talk. We still have a lot more to talk about but I think that this opened up the doors to that.”

“That’s good babe...right?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I uh think we are finally opening up to each other. Bonding. Healing.” Cas sighed into the phone, sinking further into his bed, lost in thought, making a last second decision. “Um that’s actually one of the many reasons why I’m calling. Claire needs me right now and… I have to be there for her… I can’t- I can’t be sel-”

“Woah woah Cas slow down, hold on.” Dean took a seat in his car, stalling for time, “you're not...you're not about to break up with me...right?” Dean asked, not caring about the fact that his voice cracked. Cas took longer in answering than Dean would have liked.

“N-no..not-not really” answered Cas hesitantly. “I- I just...I feel like we should take a pause… maybe not see each other for a while? I-” he could hear Dean’s jagged breathing on the other lone, “I’m not saying I want to break up I still really like you and would really love to go out on our second date...just it’s bad timing is all. I- I just don’t want to be selfish and insensitive…”

“Selfish? What having a boyfriend is selfish? Finding happiness and someone you care about and cares about you is insensitive? Since when?” Dean could hear the anger in his voice rising, but kept most of it at bay.

“It is to Claire...and I’m responsible for her now...I need to look out for her.”

“Cas you have the right to heal and get better and move on with your life. Are you going to forget about Jimmy? Hell no, in ten, twenty years it’ll still hurt like a son of a bitch. But Cas...he wouldn’t want you to spend the rest of your life wallowing, living in the past, unable to feel like you have the right to retake control over your life and live it the way you want to. Claire… it’s hard losing your parents, I know. She’s hurting and lost and she feels alone. But she’s not. She has you, sh-”

“But that's the thing Dean.” Cas cut in. “I haven’t been there for her. Not like I should have.”

“What because you went on one date? Because you've been texting and talking to some guy while she’s at school? Because lately you've been thinking that, hey, maybe I can get through all this? So what now? You're gonna sink back into depression, hate everything around you? You're going to watch her like a hawk, oversee her every move, have her grow up to resent and hate you?”

“No. I-” Cas let out a sigh, this is not the direction he had imagined this conversation would go when he first dialed Dean's number. “I just want her to know that I care about her and that I’ll be there for her no matter what.” Cas rubbed his temple, “I don’t know what to do Dean. Jimmy was a good dad. I’m… I was just her cool uncle that would take her to the movies or mini golfing and buy her weird uncool presents.”

“Okay. So do that.” Dean slid his palm across his face, knowing how important this was to Cas. “Spend some time with her. Don’t try to be her dad, because your right, you're not Jimmy. Your Castiel. Her cool uncle, her confidant.” Dean looked at his reflection of the side-view mirror, wishing he could be more helpful, “I don’t know buddy. I’ve never been in your situation before. I don’t know what else to say…”

“Me neither… kinda a first for us huh?” Cas answered, remembering all the long nights he and Dean would spend texting back and forth.

“So...where do we go from here?” Dean asked, fully aware of his shaking voice.

“I… I’m going to have to raincheck our second date.” Cas fisted his blankets. This was not his intention at all when he first dialed Dean’s number. He had meant to call him for comfort, for support. Not to break up with him, or whatever the hell this was.

“Um yeah, I get it dude. You need to spend time with Claire. I- I respect that.” Dean licked his lips, now finding himself as emotional as Cas.

“Uh” Dean said letting out a shaky breath, trying to steady his breathing, “so what are the rules? Can I still call you? Can we still text? I mean Claire’s at school most of the day right, can we talk then? I mean you're kinda my best friend man. I don’t want to lose you.”

“No no you won’t Dean. We’ll just go back to the way it was before. It won’t really be that different if you think about… not really.” Cas tried his best to assure himself and Dean. “We just won’t talk as much, okay?”

“Yeah.” Dean answered weakly.

“I- I have to go Dean. I’m sorry. Bye.” Cas quickly hung up and threw his phone across his bed.

“Bye.” Dean replied as he put his phone on the dashboard. _Great, we didn’t even make it through the weekend._

Cas could feel new sobs climbing to his throat. New emotions mixing with old ones. Like most nights since he’d moved to the house, he cried himself to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

“Dean? What are you doing” Sam poked his brother jostling him awake.

“Ow.” Dean moaned as he rubbed his sore neck.

“Why are you sleeping in the car?” Sam chided with a smile, “I mean I get she’s your baby, but c’mon you're going to make Cas jealous.”

Dean let himself fall back on the seat, rolling over to his side as he said, “we broke up.”

Sam stopped smiling, “what?” maybe he heard wrong.

“Cas and I broke up last night.” Dean whispered.

Sam opened the car door and slid in underneath Dean’s legs. “What happened? Did you guys fight?”

“No it was a complete shock. Things went so well Friday, okay well as well as they could go when your date’s niece  tries to rob a store. Then yesterday morning he left me the cutest sexiest voicemail that did things to my bo-” Dean cut himself off and glanced up, remembering he was talking to his little brother, he cleared his throat and continued, “and then we were texting and I sent gifs and he sent me pictures. Then a couple hours later he’s calling me to say it’s over.”

Sam felt his jaw tighten. He went over his schedule in his head, he didn’t have to go into the office for another few hours, that gave him plenty of time to go over to this Cas’s house and beat the shit out of him for making his brother miserable.

“Well...okay I guess he did kind of give me a reason… and I’m okay with it...I just want to wallow in self pity for a few hours.” Dean whispered after a while.

“What did he say?” Sam asked skeptically.

Dean flipped onto his back to better face Sam. “He talked to Claire. He felt like he hasn’t been there for her as much as he should be. She’s mad at him for moving on with his life so quickly, for me.” Dean paused, sorting out his thoughts in his head, “he’s a good guy. Blindly self sacrificing. He just wants to do right by everybody.”

“Sounds like someone I know.” Sam smiled softly as he looked at Dean, his anger at Cas slowly dissolving. “So what now?”

“He called it a pause. Said we could still talk. I don’t know. Maybe I should give him some space.” Dean sounded miserable and Sam didn’t know what to do so instead said

“Hey guess what I foun. Free passes to that minigolf place we use to go to when we were little. I was thinking we could go there today.”

Dean looked up at his little, he could see the hope in his eyes. “Yeah.” Dean said hoarsely, forcing himself to smile, “that’d be fun.” He slowly go up, pulling his legs off Sam’s lap and sitting up straight.

“Okay. Well breakfast is almost done so we can go after that.” Sam suggested with a polite smile, hoping to get his brothers mind off Cas. Dean nodded.

~~~~~~

“Good morning Claire.” Cas smiled as Claire padded into the kitchen.

“Hey uncle.” She replied as she opened up the fridge and pulled out the milk carton. She turned around and Cas was already there with a glass to pour it in. “Thanks.” She said hesitantly.

“So I was thinking that since you get off school early tomorrow, we could catch a movie. Like old times.” Cas said as he handed her her pancakes.

“Well I have my French midterm on Tuesday. And even though I feel like I have that one done, considering I’ve been taking it since I was little, I still wanted to brush up on some stuff.”

“Oh.” Cas replied and turned back towards the sink.

“But I basically have all my English notes memorized. We can go later today if you want to.”  She added, causing Cas to face her again, this time with a smile.

“Okay I’ll check the times after we eat.” Cas said as he plopped two pancakes on his own plate.

“It’s okay. It’ll be faster if I do it. You’ve never been to good with techy stuff.” She snided him in light humor, a fond smile growing on her face. “Is Dean coming too?” she asked suddenly, all traces of humor gone from her face.

Cas’s food froze in his throat. He reached for his own glass of food and forced it down. “No. Dean and I broke up last night.” He said, eyes focused on the fork laying dead on his plate. Claire’s fork was frozen an inch away from her mouth.

“You broke up?” Claire asked, eyes also focused on her fork.

“Yes.” Cas replied tersely, not feeling like explaining their pause. Claire slowly brought her food into her mouth. Cas soon following suit.

“Did he break up with you because of Friday?” She said after a few more bites.

“No he was very … good with all of that. He’s not judgemental or anything like that, he’s... he’s um well amazing.” Cas answered.

“So then what happened?” She stopped eating and looked at him.

“I- I broke up with him last night.” Cas said finishing up his food.

“Why? I thought you were all lovey dovey?”

Cas called on all his self restraint to not curl up his fists slam on the table and yell “you know why.” Instead he looked at her, curtly smiled and got up to wash the plates.

“Wait Cas. Did you break up with him because of what I told you last night?” She said following him to the sink. “I let my emotions run away, I’m sorry. I- I don’t think it’s selfish of you to be moving on, I mean okay a little bit of me does, but that because I just don’t see that for myself right now and I guess I want you to hurt like I’m hurting, and I know that you are, I know it’s hard for you and that I’ve made it harder but... Dean’s made it easier right? And I know Jimmy would have wanted you to be with Dean, to be happy. I want you to be happy... and it’s not fair to ask you to stay suffering because I am. I know that what I did was wrong, dad and mom would have been very upset for me and they wouldn’t want me throw my life away because of what happened to them and so neither should you. Or because of what I said. Maybe seeing you happy will help me know that… it’s okay for me to be happy too.” Claire stopped and looked at him. Tears brimming her eyes. “If you still like him, that is.” She added quickly.

“I do.” Cas said, voice breaking as he looked down at his niece.

“Well, it’s settled then.” She said wiping away a stray away tear and placing a smile on her face, “he’s coming to the movies with us. I’ll check the movie times and you can call him.”

Cas turned back to the dishes a little bit dazed as Claire headed for the home office. He started washing the dishes, going over the past week in his head, Claire suddenly becoming more distant, him getting closer to Dean, his first date with Dean, Claire, the fact that he was too busy with Dean to have noticed Claire erratic behavior. He had thought it was normal, considering what she was going through, and  whenever he tried to get close to her she pushed him away. Maybe if he hadn’t been talking to Dean his attention would have been more focused on Claire? _I’ve failed_ _her_ Cas concluded wondering if getting back with Dean was really the best idea.

“CAAS?” He heard Claire yell worriedly from the office. He stopped washing the dishes and was drying his hands when he heard her call out, “Dean’s not making you do anything you’re not comfortable with right?” Cas froze, hands still in towel furiously trying to remember what he had last been doing when he used the home computer. His cheeks flushed blood red, quickly spreading down to his neck, how to sext. That is what he had last been looking at. How to sext. He started stammering trying to figure a way out of this one. _Uh your aunt Charlie was here the other day and she must have forgott- no that won’t work, Charlie is a super genius with tech and never goes anywhere without her laptop. I knew I should have let her teach me the basics of working a computer, like remembering that turning off the screen does not close the windows. Gahhh what do I say??!!!!_

“Uh. No.” He piped out hoarsely, voice barely louder than a whisper. He cleared his throat and repeated the no, still frozen in place, scared to look anywhere but the dish towel in case Claire had come out for an explanation.

“Okay.” She answered back from the room, then added, “hey any movie in particular you wanna watch?” Cas repeated the no, this time with more confidence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone thanks for reading, I really appreciate it!
> 
> For now I'll end it here. Maybe in the future I'll add a chapter or two, but anyways I hope you've enjoyed it so far!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everybody, I'm BAAACK!! This takes place a few hours after the last chapter. Anyways, I'm still not 100 percent sure if I'll just end it with this chapter or add more along the way, but for now I'm marking this work as finished. 
> 
> Remember that you are awesome and I love you and ya :}  
> ~Many kisses and bone crushing hugs, ThatFanwriter

Cas stood outside Dean’s house staring at the red door. He looked back down at his phone to make sure he had the right address. His phone rang with a new message.

**Claire**

11:45 am:                    _Any day now Castiel._

He looked back at the car where Claire was staring at him with a smile. He turned back around and with all his force raised his hand and knocked on the door. He waited, then knocked again. Then again.

“He’s not home?” Claire yelled from the car.

Cas peeked through the side window panels. The house was dark and empty. He turned back to Claire and told her to give him a second as he pulled out his phone to dial Dean. After a few rings Dean finally picked up.

“...Hey. Thought part of the break up- er the break- was not calling each other?” Dean said as he put the golf club underneath his arm, waving away a concerned Sam.

“Uhh. Are you home?” Cas said, not wanting to do this over the phone.

“No Sam and I are out mini-golfing. Why?”

“Oh….uh I’m outside your house.” Cas said as he fidgeted.

“Wait. Your outside my house?” Dean said making eye contact with Sam.

“Yeah. I wanted to talk to you. I talked to Claire this morning. I- I think I spoke too soon. Breaking it off. I… I still want to be with you and talk to you and see you. If that’s still what you want…”

“What you think I did a 180 overnight? Of course I still want to be with you Cas!” Dean said urgently into his phone.

“Really? Okay. Uh. I’m with Claire and she suggested we all go to the movies together. There’s one that starts in an hour and a half.”

“Yeah. Do you and Claire want to join Sammy and me for a round of minigolf? It’s around the corner from the house.”

“Yeah. We’ll be right over.”

“Okay, we’ll wait at the front.” Dean said as he beamed at a confused Sammy.

“What?” Sam asked as Dean shoved his phone into his pocket.

“Cas and Claire are joining us.” Dean explained as he turned and walked towards the parking lot.

“Wait. So does this mean you guys are, like, you know, back together?” Sam asked as he struggled to keep up with his older brother.

“Yeah. At least I think so. I hope so…” Dean stopped walking and turned around to face his brother who simply crashed into him. “This means we are back together right?” Dean asked with narrowed eyes.

“Uhhmmm.” Sam said, it’s not like he was able to overhear the conversation what with Dean waving him away and all. “I think so?” He said slowly. “How about you ask him when he gets here. What’s his car look like?”

“Oh it’s a sad old beat up one. I’ve been trying to convince him for months to get rid of it. Told him I’d be able to find him a beauty like mine. But he likes it so…” Dean shrugged dismissively. Eyes on the lookout for that car. “Cas!” He yelled out when he finally spotted him pulling into the parking lot and into an empty spot. He handed his golf club to Sammy and jogged over to Cas’s car, Sam followed a few steps behind.

Dean stopped and stood in front of Cas. This was only their second time meeting face to face and he wasn’t sure what the protocol was for greeting your ex of eight hours. Apparently Cas wasn't sure either because he was just as dazed by Dean’s appearance as Dean was by his. They stared into eachothers eyes for a few moments before Claire cleared her throat.

“Hi. I’m Claire.” She said extending her hand out at Dean who reluctantly forced his eyes off Cas and focused them on Claire.

“Hi Claire. I’m Dean.” He said with a smile and a firm handshake, hoping to make a good first-well second-impression, though he’s not to sure she even noticed him on Friday.

“Sorry about how we met the first time. That’s not usually me.” She added with an apologetic smile.

“Oh it’s-” fine, he was going to say, but no it was not fine, her putting Cas through all that. So instead he said, “Cas has told me great things about you.” His eyes inevitably dashing back at Cas’s and being trapped there.

“Hi Claire, I’m Sam. Dean’s cooler younger brother.” Sam said glancing at his love-struck brother as he shook Claire’s hand.

“Hello Sam. I’m Castiel. Dean’s told me a lot about you. You’re a great man. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Cas said forcing his eyes off Dean and putting his attention on his taller brother. Sam shook his hand with a smile and wiped all plans of Cas’s demise from his head.

“Suck up much?” Dean whispered into Cas’s ear as Claire and Sam lead the way back into the Mini Golf area.

“I want your family to like me Dean.” Cas replied earnestly. Dean smiled at him and played with the idea of interlocking his hand with Cas’s and kissing his cheek as they followed Sam and Claire. Instead with a content smile he just grabbed his hand, figuring that was daring and romantic enough for them.

They spent the rest of the morning playing mini golf, Claire and Dean routinely exchanging lines, quotes from famous movies, Sam explained.

“Will you be joining us for the movie?” Cas asked as they returned the golf clubs.

“Maybe next time. I have to go into the office today.” Sam said.

“So is it hard to be a lawyer?” Claire asked.

“Why you thinking of pursuing it? It’s definitely a lot of work, but I enjoy it. My company let’s me do a lot of pro bono work which is pretty cool.” Sam said turning to Claire.

“Well I have to start thinking about which schools I’m going to be applying to, what I want to do with my life…”

“It can be daunting, I know.” Sam nodded in understanding. “Which majors and schools were you thinking about?” Claire and Sam  chatted as they walked a few steps ahead of Dean and Cas.

“So…” Dean asked as he built up the confidence to grabs Cas’s hand again. “This means that we're back together right?”

Cas smiled, “Yes Dean. This means that we are back together,” he grabbed Dean's hand and intertwined their fingers. “If-if that's what you still-”

“Yes Cas.” Dean assured him, tightening their hold.

 


End file.
